The New Puckleberry
by lizzybennettdarcy
Summary: Rachel is in New York and she might just be surprised by who she misses the most. With a little help from unlikely sources she'll figure it out.


**Hey guys, just another one-shot while I'm working on AATF and SC. It contains very minor spoilers for season 4 about new characters. Enjoy!**

**I own nothing.**

* * *

Rachel sighed as her teacher screamed for her to stop dancing.

"Damn it Iowa! That's the best ballet version of the robot I've ever seen! They forgot to add the emotion chip though." Cassandra snapped snarkily and Rachel tried to hold her head high.

"Do you even feel? I want to see you feel something. I don't care what it is. Show me your soul or get the hell out of my class!"

* * *

Rachel sat on the park bench and gazed out on the fountain in front of her. People were sitting around the courtyard enjoying the last remnants of summer and Rachel longed to feel as carefree as the students around her.

"Chill out Berry."

Rachel smiled as Brody took a seat next to her and handed her a coffee cup. She took a sip and smiled as she tasted her favorite soy beverage. She raised her cup to him in thanks. He winked at her causing her eyes to widen and smile brightly.

"What are you smiling about?" He asked curiously as he drank his own latte.

Rachel shook her head and regarded the boy in front of her for a moment.

"You remind me of someone. I just realized who." Rachel answered coyly before laughing happily.

Brody raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"Is he half as awesome as I am?" He smiled when she snorted in laughter.

"No way he's as hot as me though." He added.

Rachel threw back her head and laughed in lieu of answering him.

"Come on Berry. Tell me I at least remind you of a dude." Brody questioned once she had calmed down.

"You remind me of Noah!" She exclaimed before throwing her arms around him in a hug.

"Who's Noah?" Brody asked, throwing his empty cup in the garbage beside them.

Rachel tapped her chin thoughtfully before taking another sip.

"Noah was my first boyfriend. He was a part of my glee club. He played football and sang and danced and was the most talented musician in Lima." She announced before smiling deviously. "He was also very attractive and had lovely arms. He called them his guns."

Brody watched her laugh once more as she zoned out on a memory. She certainly hadn't smiled that way when she described her _current_ boyfriend.

"Where's this Noah guy now?" He asked.

Rachel's eyes dimmed a bit and her smiled faded.

"I'm not sure." She admitted as if realizing that she hadn't thought about him since arriving in the city.

"What do you mean? Weren't you two close? You described him fondly."

Rachel shook her head for a moment before pursing her lips and answering him.

"The last time I saw him was at the train station the day I left. I'm afraid that I was far too upset to notice much of anything, although he was quite sweet as he said goodbye." Rachel smiled as she remembered him drawing a heart on his chest and mouthing an 'I love you'.

"You haven't talked to him since?"

Rachel furrowed her brows and zoned out once more. Brody waited a minute before sighing and snapping his fingers in front of her face. Rachel smiled sheepishly with a shrug of apology.

"No, I haven't," Rachel rose to her feet and grabbed her purse. "But I will. See you in class!"

Brody watched in amusement as his new friend ran off through the courtyard towards her dormitory.

* * *

"Tell me about Noah." Rachel demanded on her nightly phone call to Kurt.

She heard Kurt sputter in surprise at the change in subject.

"What about him?" Kurt asked curiously.

Rachel thought carefully about how to word her questions. Kurt was Finn's brother after all and the last thing she needed was for more drama between the two boys.

"Brody reminds me of him. I've been trying to figure out who he reminds me of for the past two weeks. I realized today that he's so much like Noah," Rachel twirled a strand of hair around her finger. "Brody asked me what Noah was up to after graduation and I realized that I haven't talked to him since the train station. How is he?"

"I'm not really sure Rach. The two of us were never close. I could ask Blaine if you want."

Rachel thanked him before saying goodnight and hanging up. As she lay in bed that night with a pillow over her head to drown out her roommates loud moaning, she wondered about Noah Puckerman. She knew that his plans had originally included headed to LA to clean pools. She had heard from Finn that his good for nothing dad had shown up and taken all of Noah's savings with him when he left once again. She wondered where that left her ex boyfriend now. She seriously hoped that he'd at least left Lima. She shared his fears of being a Lima Loser and knew that Lima was much too small for him. Their reasons for needing to leave the small town behind were different of course. She needed to bring her talents to a higher stage. He needed to escape the reputation that Eli Puckerman had left behind for him. He too had great talents to share with the world though. She hoped that wherever he was that he was happy.

The guilt gnawed at her chest as questions of his whereabouts clouded her mind. She shouldn't need to ask their mutual friends about him. The two of them had always been close and she should have stayed in touch. She fell asleep later that night with his face on her mind and their relationship on her heart.

* * *

"The number that you're calling has been disconnected. Please hang up and try again."

Rachel sighed in frustration as she ended the call for the fifth time. There was no doubt about it, his phone had been disconnected. Sitting on her bed tiredly Rachel sent Quinn a text message asking if she had heard from him recently. When she didn't hear back immediately she tossed her phone aside and decided it was time to get ready for her class with Madam Jolly. She snorted in ironic laughter as she thought of her teacher. The woman was the furthest from jolly as a person could be. Rachel had thought that Coach Sylvester was mean but Cassandra July took the cake. Then spat on it and force fed innocent victims.

* * *

Rachel's mind was in Lima with Noah Puckerman as she danced her way through the routine mindlessly. She was just remembering 'Need you now' when Madam's snarky voice broke through her thoughts.

"Schwimmer! Earth to Eva!"

Rachel spun to a stop and waited for the regular ridicule as the other students watched in amusement.

"That was minimally better," Her teacher allowed through pursed lips as though admitting it caused her great pain.

Rachel's shock mirrored her fellow classmates as her mouth opened. Cassandra laughed and lifted Rachel's jaw to close her mouth.

"It's good to know that you're capable of emotion. I actually felt something watching you dance there for a moment," She sneered as she delivered the punch line. "Found a professional to remove the stick from your ass kiddo?"

Rachel just nodded mutely as her teacher turned away from her to pick on another freshman. She resisted the urge to stick her tongue out at the classmates who had been disappointed at their teacher's almost compliment. A grin overtook her face as she began to dance once more, her mind wandering to the day that she filmed Run Joey Run.

* * *

"Kurt! She actually kind of complimented me today! I mean she followed it up with an insult but she said I was getting better. In front of the whole class!" Rachel exclaimed cutting off Kurt's greeting upon answering the call.

"Rachel! That's so grea-"

"She said that she felt something watching me dance tonight! That she was happy I was capable of dancing with emotion!"

Kurt laughed from the other end as Rachel raved about her first fun dance class.

"What do you mean dance with emotion? What have you been doing up until now?" He asked curiously when she finally stopped to take a breath.

"Well I've been stressed out over my move and being here alone and the end of my relationship with Finn," Rachel paused for a moment as her words hit her. "I told Brody that I have a boyfriend. But I don't do I?"

"No Honey, I don't think that you do."

Kurt was surprised when he heard Rachel breathe a sigh of relief.

"I've just been going through the motions in my classes. I've been so sad and unsure and I didn't really want to think about any of it. It's made my dancing a little dull and lifeless." She admitted honestly.

"So what did you do differently tonight? What were you thinking about?"

Rachel lay back on her bed and smiled. Noah. She'd been thinking about Noah.

* * *

"You seem happier today." Brody observed as he joined her for lunch in the courtyard.

"I am. You were right. It's time to embrace the new me, although I disagree about letting go of the past completely. I think that some parts of my past are very important parts of my present and future." She answered and he laughed.

"You know, I've never known anyone quite like you." He admitted as they took a seat on their usual bench.

Rachel shrugged her shoulders.

"Did you ever find out what that Noah guy had been up to?" He asked, biting into his sandwich.

"I'm working on it." She said determinedly.

* * *

Quinn hadn't texted her back and it had been a few weeks. She had sent texts to Santana and Blaine a few days before as well. She was very frustrated with the radio silence from her friends. Noah was on her mind constantly.

Everything else was starting to look up though. Cassandra had stopped her after her last dance class.

"What changed?" She asked curiously. "You've become a totally different dancer."

Rachel had thought over her answer for a moment before facing her difficult teacher.

"I stopped holding onto the things that were holding me back. I took a look at my priorities and decided that they needed to change."

Cassandra shook her head and crossed her arms.

"Who is he?" She asked curiously and for the first time she seemed almost human.

Rachel considered ignoring the question because it really wasn't any of her business. She was never one to pass on an olive branch though and her teacher had never been nicer.

"Someone I should have seen a lot sooner." She admitted in a tone laced with shame.

Cassandra nodded and took a long drag from her water bottle.

"But you figured it out eventually. That's something." She replied wistfully, causing Rachel to wonder for the first time just how her teacher became the person she was now.

"It might be too late."

Cassandra studied Rachel for what seemed like an eternity through her shrewd eyes.

"He makes you a better dancer, probably a better performer all around. If he feels even a shred of that for you than it will never be too late." She told Rachel before turning away from her and leaving the room.

Rachel leaned against the desk and stared after her and wondered if just maybe her teacher had been pulling for her all along.

* * *

Rachel spent the next few weeks immersed in her vocal, dance and acting classes. She did her best to ignore the empty feeling that had lodged itself in her stomach. She still hadn't found a way to contact Noah. None of her friends seemed to know where he was and she was starting to worry. She had gone so far as to leave a message on his mother's answering machine asking how to get in touch with him. She hadn't heard back from Hannah Puckerman either.

She trudged back to her dorm after a particularly stressful acting class with Carmen Tibideau. She pulled her jacket more tightly around her as the cool air caused her to shiver. She was amazed to realize that it was almost November. Hurrying inside, she climbed the stairs and walked to her dorm room. She was so happy to see that her roommate had decided to spend the night elsewhere. Her father's search for an apartment near campus hadn't been successful so far.

She had just taken off her boots when there was a knock at her door. She sighed; hoping that it wasn't one of her roommate's conquests. There was another knock and she shuffled towards the door. Her jaw dropped in surprise when she found Noah Puckerman standing in front of her instead. Her eyes moved over him hungrily as his did the same. She noted that he'd ditched the mohawk and the letterman jacket. She threw herself at him and he caught her with a laugh. She hugged him as tightly as she could, breathing him in happily. She stepped back and stared up at him.

"What are you doing here Noah?" She asked breathlessly.

He rubbed a hand over his shaved head a little awkwardly before smiling down at her.

"I heard you've been looking for me."

Rachel stared at him and for a moment felt a wave of embarrassment. Then she realized that he was standing in her dorm, in New York.

"So you came to New York?" She questioned him with a smile of her own.

"Well, I didn't have your new number." He said sheepishly.

Rachel grinned up at him.

"Is that why you haven't called me?"

Rachel's eyes widened when a slight blush crossed his face before he ducked his head.

"Well it was all a part of the master plan you see. Absence makes the heart grow fonder and all that crap."

Rachel snorted and pulled him into her room.

"Great plan." She said, wrapping her arms around his waist and resting her cheek against his chest.

"I thought so." He replied against her hair. "Worked didn't it?"

Rachel laughed before standing on her tip toes and kissing him. He kissed her back with the passion that she'd been reliving during her dance classes and dreams for the past month.

"I always knew you were an evil genius." She said against his lips before stepping back. "How long are you here for?"

"I was thinking about taking some classes at NYU in the spring. I'm looking at a few apartments tomorrow. Wanna come?"

Rachel smiled more brightly than she had since she'd stepped off the train. Her past, present and future had just collided and things had never been so good.

* * *

**Let me know what you thought? Thanks!**


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